pnut

There's plenty of snowbirds in the Midwest. They usually migrate to Florida for the winter until they just finally decide to stay there year round. Pnut

Wish I had a witty reply but it's too early in the morning. So I'll just TUCK my tail and POINT my feet towards the door. Pnut

You're off to the races now. Good job on the tongs. You'll find yourself making lots of them in the coming months and years. I cheated and bought some tong blanks from Ken's when I was starting out. Tongs usually don't turn out that well as a first project. Pnut

I'm not sure if Glenn, the owner of the site can ship supplies to Canada but you might want to send him a PM as the site sells the refractory supplies to make forges. Welcome aboard, good luck, and remember it's supposed to be fun. Gas Forge Refractories and Supplies Pnut

You could probably use the blade for wrapped eye tomahawks or make a froe from the entire thing. I'm sure some people will be by with some other ideas as the day goes on. Pnut

That's the correct measurement. My masonry teacher in highschool would be mortified that I couldn't remember the thinnest measurement of a brick hahaha. Pnut That should do it for you. The fireball should be level with the surface of the hearth now. I'd bet you'll have better results.

Having the tuyere closer to the hearth will raise the hot spot and having the two bricks standing up will allow you to mound up the fuel. I have bricks standing up on both sides of my fire pot. Since I have dry fill I can easily rearrange it though. I primarily burn charcoal in mine but it works with coal. I'm just too lazy to drive the ninety minutes to Louisville to pick any up and I have a source for free wood to convert to charcoal. That's the one great thing about a jabod is you can easily tinker with it until it's working for you. I swear no two seem to work exactly alike. Pnut

I thought BOAT stood for Bust Out Another Thousand. Pnut

Here's a collection of links that can get you started without investing a lot of money into a hobby that you're not sure if you will enjoy. Welcome aboard, be safe, and remember it's supposed to be fun. Pnut https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/65352-getting-started-on-the-cheap/

The inflatable form in the forge is a good idea. Cheers. Pnut

Two solutions that I can think of is to lower the hearth or raise the floor of the firepot. My MARKIII firepot is only the depth of a brick in it's thinnest orientation in the front and back of the firepot I guess 2 3/4 inches. The tuyere is approximately 2.75 inches below the hearth. The thickness of a brick measured on its thinnest side. It's oriented just like this one built by Charles R Stanley except I have tall walls on both sides and short ones in the front and back. It's basically a tiny japanese style trench forge. Mine is disassembled in my truck and it's 4am so this is the best I can do right now. Pnut

Have you looked into a blown burner? They don't seem to be as fussy about things like gas jet alignment and mixing tube length etc. because they don't use a mig tip. They don't seem to require such tight tolerances to function properly. Just a thought. Pnut

You could put it in the vise and use a ball or bob punch for the large impression then a center punch for the smaller one. Or you could make two different punches. Pnut

Or, "If you've got an itch for quality you will love Royds." Pnut

The county in KY I live in right now was dry until three years ago. The funny part about a dry county in KY is you're allowed to possess 12 cases of beer or 1 gallon of liquor for every person in the household who's of drinking age without getting in trouble for bootlegging. I'm sure the people who owned County Line Liquors wasn't happy when Grant County went wet. It was the liquor store that was just over the Grant County line in Kenton county. The State stores in Cincinnati are also called Pony Kegs. State minimum pricing is what they all advertise. Pnut

Just 25 miles south in Northern KY we only got a dusting. Snow on the grass and trees was about the extent. Pnut

Was it dry and hard when you fired your forge up? Different areas have different clays. The clay local to me vitrifies hard as glass when you fire it. It took a wrecking bar and sledgehammer to break apart my first jabod. I broke the box from around it and it was still in usable condition. It was like a big block. I reused all but the vitrified firepot section to build the next two. Anyways, did you try digging past the high organic content topsoil to get to a higher clay content layer? I'm just guessing because I have no idea of the topography and soil content where you are. It definitely shouldn't have easily melted using a manual mattress pump though. I'd look for a stream bed and try different clay or as already mentioned use brick and see if you have better results. Pnut

I'm not sure of the manufacturer but if passes the rebound test I'd jump on it for that price. Pnut

Tampons make for a good addition to a first aid kit also. They're good for deep puncture wounds. I agree IDF&C styptic powder is also a must have. I have some left over from when I was fostering a parrot. I ended up having the critter for about five years. We never really became friends. He was mistreated. Baking powder or baking soda will also work in a pinch. Pnut

I skimmed through the thread trying to find out if there was a specific reason you used topsoil vs sand but it's gotten pretty long. Is there a reason? Clay will usually vitrify at heat like firing it in a kiln but high organic content topsoil doesn't. You could always go with a bentonite (cheap kitty litter) clay as a fill material but it's tricky to work with if you wet it. Not really tricky but more of a hassle. I've been using plain old red clay bricks surrounded by dry kitty litter for a while now but I use charcoal most of the time. Coal slag might want to stick. That's another benefit of the addition of sand or wood ash to loose clay. It helps with that problem as well as shrink checking. Keep in mind that you will eventually melt the bricks too. I don't usually have a problem if the forge isn't lit for all day sessions. Pnut

Seems like the anhydrous borax I made starts to get sticky at lower than scale forming temperatures. Not completely liquid but sticky enough to stay in place. I'll have to check to see if it has a lower melting point. Seems likely. My feeling is also better early with the flux than late. Pnut

I think this may also be a reason your weld misbehaved. I learned the hard way that if you're using flux it's better to put it on before the steel is hot enough to form scale or you're just trapping all the scale in the joint. Just hot enough to melt the flux. Pnut

Have you considered cutting up a cheap nylon tarp to use instead of the kevlar? You'd have to singe the edges but it seems like it would check all the boxes you need for that particular use. Pnut

What are you planning on using for a form and release agent? Pnut

Mine was the same as yours. I didn't have a problem but if you are you could mount it lower and make an extension for the handle. Pnut